For reasons of economy of production with respect to certain types of electrical connectors, a practice has evolved of fabricating the plastic connector housings into the largest size which can be practically molded, thermoformed, or otherwise made with such product separated as by cutting or shearing into a variety of different smaller sizes. Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,711 granted Apr. 6, 1971, a circuit board connector is shown having a housing of dielectric material which can be molded in strips having as many as fifty terminal positions and then subsequently sliced into shorter lengths to form connectors of, for example, five ten-position connectors or ten five-position connectors. U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,045 issued Oct. 6, 1970 shows a similar circuit board connector having a housing open at the ends and utilizing plugable supports at the end of the housings to accommodate a circuit board fitted into the connector. The connectors of these prior art patents require separate pieces to be plugged into the circuit board or into the connectors for guide functions and in some instances, leave the ends of the connectors open.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electrical connector having end caps that are locked thereto, thereby facilitating the shipment, handling, and assembly of connectors into circuit boards as one integral piece.
The invention has as a further object the provision of a closed end connector which is fabricated from long strips of connector housings with end caps that fit into and latch to the open ends of such strips in various lengths to provide a closed end connector.
It is still a further object to provide an improved electrical connector of a type accommodating circuit boards inserted therein.